Peer group members
stick together, and love to be with each other whenever, wherever, and
whatever. . . dah . . .

This happened to us somewhere in
the distant past. . . .

It was when one member of our (
six member group ) won in an contest ( where the five others gave full support,
of course ), when this unwished for the experience happened. After the yes,
yes, hurrah in the contest venue, we were invited for a short and simple
stomach- satisfying activity.

We went to a food (not fast)
parlor and immediately looked up on the menu posted on the wall., not able to
control the craving after the energy released in the cheering to the max during
the contest. . (By the way, during those days a menu didn’t include pictures
where you could clearly see how beautifully a bell pepper was cut, or how
melted cheese could be so inviting that you would wish to lick it to your
satisfaction).

I just didn’t understand why,
but it might had been the length of time that bound us together that made us
had almost the same test and preference. This is I most particularly observed
in our food choices. We most often agreed and seldom argued as to what food to
order whenever we dined out.

“Let’s order this arroz caldo,
this sounds tempting”. We heard Vangie finally choosing from the menu. No one
objected as expected, order carried. While waiting, the men ordered their
bottles of beer (there were only two males in the group) and the women ordered
their colas.

To while away the time, we did the usual
thing…talking…discussing how big the arroz caldo would be…because we thought
“arroz caldo” was just one of those famous burgers this food parlor had been
serving…..Then finally came the waiter… and to our shameful surprise… arroz
caldo was just the usual “ LUGAW” our parents sometimes prepared….

We silently communicated with
each other with our humiliated looks. We started scooping our arroz caldo which
we wrongly paired with beerand colas. Luckily later, Nonong managed to burp,
didn’t know why… then we slowly left the food parlor.

When we visited that food house again, we ordered “ARROZ CALDO” as a reminder that ignorance of the law (OR IGNORANCE EVEN NOT OF THE LAW) excuses no one.